Ash tray



ASH TRAY Filed Aug. 27, 1952 INVENTOR EDMUND J. coLE ygwvwg w ATTORNEY United States Patent ASH TRAY Edmund J. Cole, Moosic, Pa.

Application August 27, 1952, Serial No. 306,645

1 Claim. (Cl. 131-240) The present invention relates to improvements in an ash tray and has for an object the provision of a device of this kind which will prevent a neglected or forgotten burning cigarette from falling from the ash tray upon a supporting surface or a rug or the like to cause damage by burning.

Heretofore, ash trays have been provided in an endeavor to accomplish this purpose but in some instances the trap designed to catch the burning cigarette has been placed such a distance below the support for the cigarette that the cigarette after burning to the point where a it becomes unbalanced has frequently missed the trap intended for its capture and has fallen upon the table or floor with resultant damage by burning.

In other cases the support has been positioned above the ash receiving portion of the ash tray so that when the cigarette falls the mouth end becomes soiled and the cigarette becomes unfit for further smoking even though the smoker returns in time to retrieve a portion of the cigarette.

In other instances the support for the cigarette constitutes one or more recesses into which the cigarette must be forced so that the cigarette is so deformed as to be unsmokable even if the smoker should return before the cigarette is consumed.

The present invention contemplates providing an improved ash tray in which the above enumerated drawbacks are eliminated. This is accomplished broadly by providing an ash tray comprising an ash receiving compartment, a trap, and a supporting member between said trap and said compartment, said member having in its upper edge a groove for receiving and supporting a cigarette with its lit end disposed over said compartment and its month end over said trap, the bottom of the groove being disposed in a horizontal plane which is a substantial distance below the horizontal plane of the upper edge of said trap, whereby the entire mouth end of the cigarette will be disposed below the horizontal plane of the upper edge of the trap when the cigarette is seated on the bottom of the groove. This arrangement will assure that the cigarette cannot roll off the ash tray but must fall into the trap should the cigarette be neglected and permitted to burn to the point where it becomes unbalanced.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved device of this character in which the groove may be so shaped and dimensioned with respect to the diameter of the cigarette that the cigarette will be supported by the groove and yet may not be extinguished by the groove when the cigarette will have been burned to such an extent that the lit end is disposed within the groove.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved structure in which the well or trap for the cigarette stub produced by the burning of the cigarette to such an extent that the lit end is disposed within the groove has a diameter or width and length substantially larger than the length of the cigarette stub so that the stub will be unerringly received by the trap and remain therein.

The present invention aims to provide an improved ash tray having at least two spaced apart Wells or .traps and a groove extending there'between for receiving and supporting a cigarette with its lit end over one well and its mouth end over the other well.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention will be hereinafter more fully described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawing, in which the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals throughout the views,

Figure l is a top plan view of an ash tray constructed in accordance with the present invention, and

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 10b indicates an ash tray which is shown to be substantially circular and the ash receiving compartment 11b is circular and concentrically arranged with respect to the outer wall of the ash tray.

A series of angularly spaced apart wells or traps 42 are arranged in a generally hexagonally configuration around the compartment 11b and spaced outwardly therefrom. Supporting members 43, which may be in the form of walls or partitions, separate adjacent Wells from one another and from the compartment 11b. Each wall has formed in its upper surface a groove 44 for receiving and supporting a cigarette, the opposite end of each groove opening into an adjacent well 42 so that the lit end of a fresh cigarette may be disposed over one of said Wells and the mouth end of the cigarette will be disposed over an adjacent well. Each wall 43 is also provided with a radially extending groove 45 for receiving a cigarette and having its opposite ends opening into the compartment 11b and an adjacent well 42.

The bottom of each groove 45 is disposed in a horizontal plane which is substantially below the horizontal plane of the upper edge of each well or trap 42 so that the lit end of the cigarette may be disposed wholly within the compartment 11b and the mouth end of the cigarette may be disposed wholly within the adjacent trap 42 when the cigarette is supported by the groove 45.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in the details of construction and design of the above specifically described embodiment of this invention Without departing from the spirit thereof, such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of the following claim.

What I claim is:

An ash tray formed from a substantially circular block of non-inflammable material and comprising a substantially circular ash receiving compartment located at substantially the center of the block, a plurality of angularly spaced apart wells arranged in a generally hexagonal configuration around said compartment and spaced outwardly therefrom, and wall portions separating adjacent wells from one another and from said compartment, each of said wall portions having in its upper surface a groove for receiving and supporting a cigarette, the opposite ends of each groove opening into adjacent wells, and radially extending grooves located at the juncture between each wall portion and the adjacent wall portion for receiving a cigarette and each having its opposite ends opening into said compartment and one of said wells respectively.

(References on following page) UNITED STATES PATENTS Isaacs May 12, 1896 Stem Aug. 8, 1922 Ehl'man Dec. 13, 1932 Lewis Feb. 19, 1935 Zettergren Mar. 31, 1936 Frank Sept. 10, 1946 Astruck Mar. 27, 1917 10 4 Heller May 6, 1924 Heller July 14, 1925 Dillon Feb. 1, 1927 Currier Feb. 20, 1934 Hirner Sept. 14, 1937 Segal Dec. 7, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain July 17, 1934 

